If you’re a hockey fan, especially in the United States, and you’re not overly familiar with Clare Drake, it’s understandable. The successes of a college hockey coach from the University of Alberta don’t typically filter down to the consciousness of the typical North American sports fan.

And it’d be easy for his coming induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame to be overshadowed by high-scoring stars like Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, Mark Recchi and Dave Andreychuk. Joining Drake as a builder is Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who probably even has more name recognition.

But for as impactful as every one of those contributors was to hockey, none of them changed the sport like Drake. None changed their entire profession like Drake.

A University of Alberta alum was once chatting with Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and Carroll asked him if he played any sports collegiately. He mentioned he was once a hockey player at the University of...